Eat This Long for Appetite Control (RD Tips)

You probably think carefully about what you eat, but do you ever think about how long you spend eating?

Spending enough time eating each meal can help you feel full and reduce overeating. Here's why 20 minutes is the ideal amount of time you should spend on each meal.

This 20-minute window takes advantage of the gut-brain connection: a two-way communication pathway that coordinates appetite and satiety based on hormones that are produced in response to food intake.

There are several hormones responsible for hunger and satiety, but the main three are ghrelin, cholecystokinin (CCK), and leptin. These hormones are made in the gut in response to the absence or presence of food. When ghrelin is high, we feel hungry. When leptin and CCK are high, we feel full and are ready to stop eating.

During a meal, the satiety signals CCK and leptin are produced in response to food and nutrients entering the stomach, while ghrelin—the hunger hormone—is gradually suppressed. As these hormones fluctuate, they signal to the brain that there is optimal nutrition in the gut.

This helps to promote the feeling of comfortable satiety from a meal. This fluctuation in hormones reduces the reward from food and turns off signals to continue eating, which also helps to reduce overeating.

But here's the kicker: These hormones don't function like light switches, meaning they don't immediately turn hunger signals on or off. They are more like volume knobs that gradually increase or decrease a signal over a period of time. This means that when we are eating a meal, our hormones are slowly shifting to tell the brain we are satisfied, but this process takes time.

While the exact timing of hormonal changes is unclear, as a registered dietitian, I recommend aiming for a mealtime duration of at least 20 minutes.

This 20-minute eating window allows satiety hormones from the gut to effectively signal the brain about fullness or hunger. Eating faster than 20 minutes can lead to overeating, as you may continue eating past the point of satiety. On the other hand, if you're still hungry after 20 minutes, continue eating until satisfied.

Focusing on both meal length and nutrient intake is a great way to promote fullness and prevent overeating. The 20-minute rule is a simple yet effective strategy to feel your best before, during, and after meals.

This strategy is also key to improving gut health and reducing digestive discomfort after meals. Interested in more strategies to optimize mealtime? Here are some additional ways to improve digestion without major diet changes.